Over the last 10 to 15 years, evidence has been gathered which seems to indicate that the earth was created in an instant. The evidence comes from the study of a feature of many igneous rocks. The radiohalo, found throughout various minerals, is a discoloration of the rock caused by the radioactive decay of a small speck of a radioactive element contained in the rock.

When a small speck or inclusion of a radioactive substance, such as uranium-238, is trapped in the rock, the uranium emits alpha particles which destroy the crystal structure of the mineral. Since the alpha particles are emitted from the uranium with a particular speed, the alpha particles can travel only a certain distance through the rock before they stop. When the alpha particles stop, they discolor the rock.

Since the alpha particles are emitted in all directions, a spherical shell of discoloration is produced.

While uranium is decaying to lead, it passes through fifteen steps. When an atom of uranium emits an alpha particle, the atom no longer is uranium but becomes thorium which in turn gives off a particle and turns into another element.

During this process, alpha particles with five distinct velocities are given off. Because of this, when uranium is trapped in a rock a set of fine concentric discolorations of the rock will occur. The size of each halo is determined by the speed of the alpha particle, for each element in the decay chain has emitted particles with a specified velocity. Thus if one finds a halo of a certain radius, he often can determine what element formed the halo from the radius alone.

Polonium-218, polonium-214 and polonium-210 are the radioactive substances which are responsible for three halos in the characteristic five-ringed uranium halo. These three isotopes of polonium are found today only mixed up with uranium-238. This is because polonium decays so rapidly that it cannot be stored for more than a few minutes. The only reason it even exists is that it is constantly being formed by the decay of uranium.

Two factors are required before a halo can form.

1. A small speck of a radioactive substance must be included in the molten rock before it cools.

2. The rock must solidify and form a crystal before all of the radioactivity is ended.

Because of these considerations, it was surprising when two and three-ring halos were discovered in a size which indicated they had been formed by the three isotopes of polonium. Since polonium- 218 has a half-life of only three minutes, most polonium is almost entirely gone within 30 minutes. Therefore, to find a polonium-218 halo without any evidence of a uranium halo seemed to indicate that the molten rock solidified within 30 minutes of the formation of the polonium-218, and since the only known source of polonium-218 is from the decay of uranium, the only apparent source of that polonium would be by creation.

The situation gets more interesting with polonium-214 halos the two-ringed halos mentioned above. The half-life of polonium-214 is .000164 second. This means that the rock would have had to cool in less than I/ 1000th of a second after the polonium-214 was created. No known processes of nature can cool and solidify a rock that rapidly.

Is it possible that this proves God created the earth in an instant?

ADDITIONAL REFERENCE SOURCES

R.V. Gentry, "Extinct Radioactivity and the Discovery of a New Pleochroic Halo,"
Nature, Vol. 213, p. 487.
R.V. Gentry, "Fossil Alpha-Recoil Analysis of Certain Variant Radioactive Halos,"
Science, June 14, 1968, p. 1228-1230.
R.V. Gentry, "Radiohalos: Some Unique Lead Isotope Ratios and Unknown Alpha
Radioactivity," Science, Vol. 173, p. 727-731.
C. Moazed, R.M. Spector, and R.F. Ward, "Polonium Radiohalos: An Alternative
Interpretation," Science, Vol. 180, p. 1272-1274.
R.V. Gentry, et al, "Ion Microprobe Confirmation of Ph Isotope Ratios and Search
for Isomer Precursors in Polonium Radioholos," Nature, Vol. 244, p. 282-283.
R.V. Gentry, "Radiohalos in a Radiochronological and Cosmological Perspective,"
Science~ Vol. 184, p. 62-66.
J.H. Fremlin, "Spectacle Haloes," Nature, Vol. 258, p. 269.
R.V. Gentry, "Gentry Replies," Nature, Vol. 258, p. 269, 270.